| Spiritual art Making Contact: Developing Tactile Community in a Touch-Resistant Culture Spiritual art MINNEAPOLIS -- The Outsiders and Others Religion Show, featuring seven artists who sre currently exploring both traditional and untraditional religious/spiritual imagery in their works, will run through Saturday, Feb. 7, at the Outsiders and Others Gallery, 1010 Park Ave. S., Minneapolis. The featured artists are Phil Arrington, Steve Cvinar, B.J. Christofferson, Ronie George, James Michael Lawrence, John Schuerman and Yilam H. Woldemdhine. Hours are noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, and noon to 7 p.m. on Thursday. For more information, call (612) 338-3435 or visit outsidesandother.org Making Contact: Developing Tactile Community in a Touch-Resistant Culture MINNEAPOLIS -- There is a profound and little recognized stressor rampant in American culture. This stressor generates a sense of isolation, anxiety and lack of support. It creates a fragmented sense of self and relationship, and it fragments our perception of reality. It is the antithesis of what generates a peaceful sense of community, mutuality and cooperation. It encourages stress-related illnesses born of chronic muscular, visceral and emotional tension. This stressor is: Touch Deficit. Without adequate touch we experience our bodies as a burden, feel fatiqued, and fail to thrive. Without touch we lose the fundamental grounding of our sense of belonging. Studies have shown that in the course of an hour together in a coffee shop, two friends will touch one another 110 times in France, and 180 times in Puerto Rico. In the United States, friends will touch only 2 times in an hour. American regions influenced by touch avoidant German, Scandinavian and British cultures are profoundly impacted. It is easy to understand why Americans in general have no referent for what adequate touch is, nor any awareness of the consequence of its absence. Paul Herb and Robin Wilson, who collectively have 60 years experience in touch therapy, will present "Making Contact: Developing Tactile Community in a Touch-Resistant Culture," a two-day workshop to explore our culturally imposed inhibitions to touch and how these affect us personally. It will be from noon to 5 p.m. on March 6-7, at 308 W. 33rd St., Minneapolis. The fee is $220, with a $100 non-refundable deposit required in advance. Space is limited. Participants will be encouraged to touch in healthy ways they can experience more freedom to choose to touch in everyday life. The group will explore creating healthy touch opportunities in our lives, and ways to introduce touching into our communities while respecting the boundaries of others. Participants will learn a short, simple, safe and gentle sensory massage that everyone can enjoy giving and receiving. Touch professionals, in addition, will be guided to deeper and more challenging levels of touch perception than previously experienced. Please bring your own sheet, towel, comfortable pad for the floor, and bathing suit. Paul Herb, a touch therapist, has taught a 600-hour Massage Certification course at the Aveda Institute. His work has been featured in Massage Magazine, and he was a featured presenter at Massage Magazine's 2002 International Body Therapy Expo in San Francisco. Robin Wilson has 25 years experience in teaching and group facilitation both nationally and internationally. She is a Registered Advanced Instructor of Ortho-Bionomy®, and has founded two educational centers, in Southern California and locally the MN Center for Ortho-Bionomy. She is the originator of PRT (Psychoperistalsis Reflex Technique), and facilitator of the Power of Presence Workshop. To register, contact Paul Herb at (612) 822-9333 or e-mail PaulHerb@earthlink.net, or Robin Wilson at (612) 362-5944 or e-mail MNCntrOB@quixnet.net |
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Feb 2004 |
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